Hurricane Names: How and Why Hurricanes Are Named

Hi Steemians,

Earlier this year hurricanes have been occuring in various places across the Atlantic Ocean and the hurricanes have been associated with different names. You might be wondering why and how are hurricanes named, After reading this post you will get to know why hurricanes are named and How it is done.

Firstly , let's look at a brief history of hurricane names

History

The naming of Atlantic hurricanes started hundred years ago. Habitats of the Carribean Islands gave names to storms after a Saint of the day using the Catholic calender on the day which the hurricane occured e.g "Hurricane San Felipe".

In a situation where two hurricanes occur on the same day in a different year, the hurricane will be named as "Hurricane San Felipe I and Hurricane San Felipe II.

The United States meteorology department in the early days used latitude and longtitude to name storms showing the exact location where the storm started. The names used then were hard to remember, not easy to communicate and was subjected to so many errors.

Women names were used to named storms by military meteorologist who were working in the pacific at the time of the second world war. This method made it easy for meteorologists to communicate and in 1953 the National Hurricane Center approved it usage on storms occuring in the Atlantic Ocean.

Since the emergence of this method, naming of hurricanes became easy and part of standard language, and awareness on hurricanes increased exponentially.

Men's name were also used in 1978 to name storms by meteorologists who were watching storms near the eastern North Pacific. In 1979, Meteorologists watching storms from the Atlantic Ocean started using men's names.

For every year 21 names are listed, each representing a letter of the alphabet, the names were created and organised in alphabetical order ( Q, U, Z, X, and Y were not included).

The first tropical storm that occurs in a year is named with the alphabet "A" and the second named with the alphabet "B" and so on. In years with even number ,odd numbered storms are being named by men's name while in odd numbered years women's names are used.

The World Meteorogical Organization is in charge of the lists of names given to Atlantic hurricanes. There are six lists and every six years the lists are reused.
Some hurricane names are occasionally retired, this can bring a little changes to the list.

The hurricane name is retired when it causes too much death and destroys lots of properties, re-using the same name will cause emotional pain to the people who were affected. When such an event occurs the name is replaced by W .M.O.

Reasons Why Hurricanes Are Named?

Every year there's an occurrence of hurricane and most times two or three can be occuring simultaneously. The use of names makes it easy for meteorologists, quick response workers and habitats of a specific area to communicate and share informations about a specific hurricane.

The World Meteorological Organization is responsible for developing the list of names which are assigned in an alphabetical order to storms that occur in a hurricane season.

Names are not given to hurricanes directly, tropical storms that has a wind speed of 39mph are given names. But tropical storms that has a wind speed of 74mph are then called Hurricanes. Thus, the name given to the tropical storm now becomes the hurricane name.

Here are hurricane names to be used now and in the future

2017 - Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katia, Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia and Phillipe.

2018 - Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Micheal, Nadine, Oscar and Patty.

2019 - Andrea, Barry, Chaital, Dorian, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Mellisa, Nestor, Olga and Pablo.

2020 - Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Ida, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar and Paulette.

2021 - Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Elsa, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Julian, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette and Peter.

2022 - Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl, Fiona, Gaston, Hermire, Ian, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Martan, Nicole, Owen and Paula.

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References:

http://geology.com/hurricanes/hurricane-names.shtml

https://wikipedia.org

Photo Credits: https://pixabay.com

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